Photo

Photo

Photo

Photo

The Carroll County Electoral Board has confirmed incumbent Greg Crowder’s victory as Mayor in the Town of Hillsville’s May 6 election, while a drawing Friday will determine the winner of the Sulphur Springs Ward race between Billy Walls Sr. and Bill Tate.

According to Carroll County Registrar Kimberly Cloud, the Carroll County Electoral Board met Wednesday morning to complete part of its canvas from last night’s election. A tie remains in the Sulphur Springs Ward race with Walls and Tate each receiving 89 votes. The Carroll County Electoral Board will do a drawing between the two candidates to determine a winner. The drawing is tentatively scheduled for Friday, May 9 at 8 a.m.

“They will place each candidate’s name on a sheet of paper and place it in a container and do a discreet drawing,” Cloud said. “One of the board members will draw an envelope from a container and that will be the winner of the town council’s seat.”

Cloud said it was the first tie to her knowledge, at least in the past 15 years, in Carroll County or Hillsville. The only drawing she is aware of locally was when the Carroll County Board of Supervisors went to staggered terms a few years ago and a drawing was held to see which districts would begin with the staggered terms.

Cloud said the Carroll County Electoral Board also confirmed Crowder’s victory in the Mayoral race over challenger Billie Taylor. Crowder picked up one vote from last night’s results, officially winning by a count of 338-334. She said Taylor did not ask for a recount.

The Carroll County Electoral Board also confirmed Greg Yonce’s victory over Nancy Beasley for the Laurel Fork Ward seat by a vote of 113-72. With the win, Yonce will serve his fourth consecutive term on Hillsville Town Council.

TUESDAY NIGHT: The Town of Hillsville took the old saying “Every vote counts” to heart in 2014.

Unofficial results released Tuesday night by the Carroll County Office of Voter Registration have Hillsville Mayor Greg Crowder retaining his position by three votes over challenger Billie Taylor, 337-334, while there is currently a tie in the Sulphur Springs Ward race between incumbent Billy Walls, Sr. and Bill Tate, with each receiving 89 votes each unofficially.

In the Laurel Fork Ward, incumbent Greg Yonce appears to be the only known quantity at this point as he unofficially defeated challenger Nancy Beasley 113-72.

Those results are final for Tuesday night, Carroll County Registrar Kimberly Cloud said at about 8:30 p.m. She said a recount is likely in the Mayoral race, while the fate of the Sulphur Springs race will have to wait until the Carroll County Electoral Board meets early Wednesday morning. She is not aware of another tie previously in Carroll County or Hillsville elections.

“This is a first. First off, they have a provisional that has been cast and the electoral board meets tomorrow (Wednesday) for their canvas to make the results official at that time. The numbers could change, they may not change,” Cloud said. “It will be decided tomorrow. At that point, the Electoral Board will ask as to what happens (if the race does end in a tie). It would probably depend on the Town Charter and what the Virginia Election Code allows, and the Electoral Board will probably have that answer tomorrow.”

Cloud said a challenger can also ask for a recount if the margin of victory is less than one percent of the total votes cast. With Crowder leading by three votes out of 671, Hillsville’s Mayoral race certainly meets the criteria.

“We will have to wait until tomorrow for the electoral board to complete their canvas,” Cloud said of whether or not there will be a recount in Hillsville’s Mayoral race.

Taylor actually defeated Crowder in three of the five precincts, counting central absentee ballots. She won the Pine Creek (97-84) and Laurel Fork (99-80) wards, and was ahead 11-8 in central absentees. Crowder won the wards in Sulphur Springs (87-84) and Pipers Gap (78-43).

We will have more information tomorrow on the official results once they are certified by the Carroll County Electoral Board Wednesday morning.

“We are done for the night,” Cloud said of the current vote totals.

Contribute

Comments

All user comments are subject to our Terms of Service. Users may flag inappropriate comments.